Home Blog Page 238

Burnard: Yes, we are better off

By
Don Burnard
-
0

Are we better off now than we were four years ago? In my opinion, the answer is absolutely yes. Four years ago in September 2008, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met with Congressional leaders to demand a $700 billion emergency bailout, saying “If we don’t do this, we may not have an economy on Monday.” The Bush economy had completely imploded and nearly took down the world economy with it. By January 2009, our economy was shedding 800,000 jobs a month.

This was the hand Barack Obama was dealt. Due to economic policies similar to those in place just before the Great Depression, we had the Great Recession. The worst times in our lifetimes were upon the middle class. Main Street was called on, once again, to bail out Wall Street, after its greed and avarice caused the middle class to lose 40 percent of its net worth. In addition, we were fighting two unpaid-for wars, and saddled with the Bush tax cuts that grossly favored the top 1 percent. A smart poker player would have folded that hand in most cases. But Obama played the hand that was dealt him.

One of the problems we have in this country is an expectation that a politician can wave his hand or a magic wand or something, and undo eight years of unfettered free-for-all Republican rule. Much of this is due to the electronic age we live in, where we have access to vast amounts of information and opinion at our fingertips 24/7. I believe that this leads to an expectation that problems, no matter how great, can be solved as quickly as we can look things up.

Most people don’t have the attention span anymore to read more than a paragraph or two on any given subject, and if it has hard-to-understand facts and figures, forget it and move on. Bumper sticker slogans are much more the soup du jour for most of the public these days. The real world doesn’t work that way. The largest problems we face today can’t be addressed overnight and magically rectified at the speed the public would like. No person on earth, including Mitt Romney, is capable of these feats.

It is true that Obama made a lot of prognostications on how many and how soon many of these problems could be addressed in his campaign. Politicians have a tendency to do that. If Mitt Romney should be elected, and he can even read the list aloud of everything he’s promised to do on day one on day one, he’ll be doing well. But putting that aside, we have to look at the politics in Congress.

Virtually from the start, the Republicans in Congress threw aside all concern for all but their wealthy friends, and did everything they could to make sure that the president could not effectively try to solve these problems. Their overwhelming zeal to “make Obama a one-term president” was the overwhelming factor in their legislative agenda. They made sure that any plans that would help the middle class and/or poor, or help bring unemployment down, or help keep people in their homes were defeated. They didn’t offer a single plan of their own to address any of these problems. Not one. Their abusive use of legislative chicanery was unprecedented.

What did the president manage to do with this hand and no help whatsoever from the GOP? We’ve created 5.2 million new jobs and have had 31 straight months of job growth. Think of where we could have been if the Republicans had shown even a smidgen of bipartisanship, instead of trying to ensure that middle America didn’t succeed. The only people who fared well throughout this whole economic malaise were the same characters that created it.

Most of us have at least regained our losses to our pension funds, etc. and gotten back to where we were when we tanked. Wall Streeters have made out like the bandits that they are, and if there is one shortcoming I can point to, it’s that many of these characters aren’t in prison. We did have some much needed reregulation of the financial industry. We are no longer in the Iraq war, which we never should have been in in the first place, and at least have planned a certain date to end the Afghanistan war.

During the Bush administration, the War on Terror was the overriding point politicians pushed on us, and Obama did what the Bush administration could not: He dispatched Osama bin Laden. Tens of millions of people now have access to health care who were not able to obtain it previously. So are we better off now? I think we are. Could we do better? Give us a Congress willing to do the people’s work, and I think we can.

Costume party to benefit local Goodwill

By
Dock David Treece
-
0

Although the theme of the Ghoulwill Ball, a costume benefit for Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio, is old Hollywood, eventgoers can be as creative as they wish.
“Obviously if you come as a hot dog or something, we’re OK with it. Any costume you want to come in, we’re OK,” said David Takats, director of fund development and marketing.
The Northwest Ohio chapter has traditionally done a golf-outing fundraiser in the past, but was looking to do something more creative, Takats said.
“Some other Goodwills have done [Ghoulwill Balls] in the previous few years and it has been very successful for them,” he said.
Originally, the inaugural ball was set for last year, but plans fell through. This year is different with 25 sponsors already on board, Takats said.
“Goodwill is very well-received in the community, and what we do [in the community] and I think the uniqueness and fun leads the sponsors to want to get on board,” he added.

The Oct. 27 party begins at 7 p.m. at Brandywine Country Club, 6904 Salisbury Road, Maumee. There will be a cash bar and several different types of cuisine — Mexican, American, Asian and garden food stations will be available.
In addition to raffles and a costume contest, there will be other treats like a photo booth and a candy station.
“We’ve put together a really cool candy table with all these big jars and things around, where you can take candy home at the end of the night,” Takats said.
A dance teacher will also show the crowd how to do the dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. The best dancer will receive a prize.
Funk band Tantric Soul with Carmen Miller is set to perform at the benefit.
“[Miller’s] unbelievable. She’s like, imagine a young Tina Turner,” Takats said. Miller is also a board member for Goodwill of Northwest Ohio.
Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio helps people with various barriers in finding employment, Takats said. Forbes recently named Goodwill one of the top 25 most inspiring companies in the country.

Goodwill also has several retail locations for used goods throughout Northwest Ohio. For more information, visit http:// www.goodwillnwohio.com/.
Takats said fun is the No. 1 goal for the inaugural Ghoulwill Ball. He hopes people will “just enjoy themselves. Wear a fun costume; have a couple drinks, some food. Listen to a fantastic band and have a great night and hopefully by the end of the night, they think, ‘We really like Goodwill.’”
Tickets are $50 per person and $90 per couple. Tickets are $40 for individuals in groups of four or more people. Only those older than 21 can attend. To purchase, visit www.goodwill nwohio.com/ghoulwillball/.

Fall Festival returns to Levis Commons

By
Dock David Treece
-
0

The Town Center at Levis Commons is celebrating the return of autumn on Oct. 20 with its Fall Festival.
From 3-7 p.m., activities like pumpkin bowling, cow-milking and hayrides will be available.

Imagination Station will also be on site to present “spooky science.”

Kids can also drive mini tractors and gators at a straw-bale racetrack sponsored by John Deere and Findlay Implement.
At 5 p.m. there will be a costume contest for the most creative, best team costume and best-of-show outfits.

Online registration is available at www.shopleviscommons.com.
All events are set by JB’s Sarnie Shoppe near the clock tower. The Town Center at Levis Commons is located at 3201 Levis Commons Blvd., Perrysburg. For more information, visit www.shopleviscommons.com.

Nick Muska to read at Oct. 25 event

By
Kyle Cappelletty
-
0

Nick Muska has taken nearly 30 years of winter travels to Florida and Jamaica and turned the experiences into poetry.
He will read at Gathered Art Gallery and Studios, 23 N. Huron St. in Downtown Toledo at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 25.
Muska’s poem, “28 Sunsets and 3 All Night Taxi Rides,” is a sequential poem depicting every sunset in February and will be one of many featured at the upcoming event.
This February will mark the 30th year Muska has traveled to Florida and Jamaica to work on his collection of carefully selected poems.
“I would stay between two andfive weeks and write a journal every morning,” Muska said. “In the evenings I would go to my favorite spot on the beach and write poems inspired by my surroundings. After nearly three decades of visiting Jamaica and Florida I had quite a lot of poems to work with in putting together my book.”
For more information, visit www.gatheredartgallery.com

Country superstar McBride to sing at Stranahan

By
Toledo Free Press
-
0
Country superstar Martina McBride. Photo by Randee St. Nicholas

When Martina McBride has a day off, she likes to stay home. 

“I catch up on stuff around the house. I like to cook, so I like to cook dinner for my family,” she said. “I love to read — just the normal stuff. I’m really pretty boring when it comes right down to it, honestly. There’s no awesome hobby that I have — like skydiving or anything.” 

But the Grammy Award winner has that awesomely powerful voice that soars and empowers on hits that include “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” “Independence Day” and “A Broken Wing.” That soprano also is heard on romantic songs, including “I Love You,” “One Night,” “Valentine” with pianist Jim Brickman and “Marry Me” with Train lead singer Pat Monahan. 

Her 2011 disc, “Eleven,” marked a renaissance for the music veteran. It’s McBride’s first release on a new record label, Republic Nashville, and she worked with a new co-producer, Byron Gallimore. And she signed with Morris Artists Management. 

“It just seemed time to make some changes in my career as far as management and record label, and it just was inspiring, you know, anytime you get surrounded by fresh energy and passion. It inspired me to make a record that pushed the boundaries a little bit,” she said during a call from her tour bus, which was leaving Rochester, N.Y. 

The four-time Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year and three-time Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist also helped write six songs. 

“I think it’s my most personal record,” the Sharon, Kan., native said. “I take ownership of songs like ‘Independence Day,’ songs that I’ve recorded before that I sang for so long, but there’s something different about writing your own words. And it’s kind of liberating to be able to write those words instead of waiting for someone else to come up with something you identify with, so I pulled from my own life.” 

She co-wrote “Teenage Daughters.” The mother of three laughed when asked if the girls thought she was cool. 

“I’m just their mom, the one who enforces the curfew and tells them to pick their clothes up off the floor, makes them be home for family dinner when they’d rather go out with their friends. What I do is so much a part of our lives that I don’t think they really think about it much unless they see me on stage or on TV.” 

Meanwhile her music inspires millions. 

“When I heard ‘Independence Day,’ it made me more aware [of domestic violence] and I wanted to do something to help. And the same thing with ‘I’m Going to Love You Through It,’ this past year singing that song, I’ve met so many [breast cancer] survivors and their caretakers and people who have told me their story, and it just makes the songs come to life and you want to do something to extend that experience of the song.  

“So we’re working with General Mills for Save Lids to Save Lives, which is a great, great thing that they’re doing; they’re donating $2.5 million to the Susan G. Komen Foundation,” she said. “It’s easy for me to do something like that and it makes a big difference.” 

McBride will perform an 8 p.m. show Oct. 27 at Stranahan Theater. Tickets range from  $37 to $75. 

The singer who released her debut in 1992 has sold 18 million records and is the most played female artist on country radio for the past 11 years, according to both Mediabase and Broadcast Data Systems. 

 “I’m most proud of the longevity that I’ve been able to have,” she said. “The fact that I’m still able to do this after 20 years is more than I ever expected, and it’s a long career in a really crazy business, and I’m proud that I’ve been able to endure and hopefully stick around a few more years.” 

 

UT professor’s book details history of disabilities

By
Matt Liasse
-
0

A week after Kim Nielsen signed the contract for her new book “A Disability History of the United States,” her teenage daughter became disabled.
“My daughter has a rare neurology disease and so is now a part-time wheelchair user,” said Nielsen, a University of Toledo professor. “It’s been a good
learning experience for my family.”

The book, published by The Beacon Press, was released Oct. 2. The book offers insight on both U.S. history and Nielsen’s personal life.
“I’ve realized that disability is part of my life in ways that I had not
even realized, but I think that’s the case for all of us,” Nielsen said. “The book means a lot to me.”
In the book, Nielsen, who holds a doctorate in history, explores the past of people with disabilities in America.
She also digs into the changing definitions of said disabilities. It is the first book to cover the whole timespan from the European arrival to the present day, she said.
Nielsen said she wrote her book for both a general and a scholarly audience. She said she hopes it’s approachable for anyone interested in history.
“History is about telling stories and telling them well,” she said. “[It’s an] interesting topic with lots of rich stories and interesting people.”

Kim Nielsen

At first, Nielsen was worried the book’s topic was “too much to bite off.”
“Probably all writers write in spurts,” Nielsen said. “You know there’s agonizing days where you work to write a paragraph and nothing will come at all.”
Nielsen said there was a lot of research required for the book and a lot of working with primary sources.
In the book, Nielsen wrote that disability is central to the history of the United States. She said that when we look at the history of disability, it forces us to examine our ideals ofcommunity and independence.
“People with disabilities have been ignored in U.S. history and yet they’ve been really integral to U.S. history,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen also uses storytelling methods in her book.
In one of the book’s stories, Nielsen wrote about a Civil War veteran who lost his arm before returning home to his fiancée, who left him because of it.
Nielsen included a poem the veteran wrote about the situation in her book.
“It’s written with so much humor that he became somebody that I really would’ve liked to have met,” Nielsen said. “He told the story with real grace and humor.”
Not every story in the book has humor to it though. Nielsen said that a slave ship sailing to America from Africa was overridden with a disease that left a lot of passengers
on the ship blind. When told this information, the captain gave orders to throw all the ill slaves overboard as “damaged cargo.”
“That story just haunted me for months and months,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen recently joined the University of Toledo as a professor in Disability Studies. Such departments are “new, but growing” on college campuses, said Jim Ferris, director of the School of Disability Studies.
The UT Disability Studies program was created as a partnership with The Ability Center of Greater Toledo (ACT), which sets it apart from other universities in the nation.
ACT is a nonprofit organization that aims to assist people with disabilities, according to abilitycenter.org. Ferris also serves as ACT’s endowed chair
in Disability Studies.
UT’s department has 90 students and will be hiring two more faculty members by the fall of 2014.
Ferris called Nielsen’s book “groundbreaking,” and “another step in creating a world-class program.”
Nielsen is teaching two classes this semester and more in the spring.
“I have marvelous students,” Nielsen said. “I’m enjoying them very much.”
Nielsen has written four other books, but said “A Disability History” was the book she learned the most from.
“It was the book that stretched me the most intellectually,” Nielsen said. “It’s nice at 46 to know that I can still learn new things and develop new skills and continue to better myself as a historian.”
Nielsen said it is impossible to say what her favorite book she has written is.
“Parents will never identify their favorite child,” Nielsen said. “I’m a little hesitant to do that.”
Nielsen said people have contacted her praising the book and telling her their personal stories of living with disabilities as well.
“That’s been really lovely, to see people connect themselves with the book and the stories that I’m telling,” Nielsen said. “All of us are part of this story.”

Kuron: SOS, War of 1812 style

By
Don Lee
-
0

My dad served in WWII and occasionally made something called SOS for us kids.
You vets know what the acronym means; for the rest, just think “Something” On a Shingle. It was beef, cooked with flour and water, and poured over a piece of toast. I’ve never made it for myself since; it just can’t compete with, well, any other food choice I could imagine. But according to dad, it was the staple dish in his Army life.
Accounts from diaries and quartermasters’ reports show that the 1812 military rations were likewise quite limited in variety, and often in quantity. Meals most often came as flour, jerked beef or salted pork pulled from barrels, and sometimes freshly butchered from animals that were herded alongside the troops.
Today, freeze-dried, vacuum-sealed, essentially spoil-proof food serves as backup rations for our troops when they aren’t able to enjoy a balanced meal.

But in 1812, men from all over Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky were either in constant motion across our region or settled into fortresses like Fort Meigs. Strategies had to be developed to feed them in both circumstances. The transportation of the foodstuffswas a daunting logistics challenge.
Wagons got stuck in the muddy waters of the Black Swamp; sleds frequently broke through thin ice and were lost to the waters below. Over time, barrels succumbed to moisture making their contents rancid.

In the spring of 1813, even the sudden thaw of the Maumee River wiped out unknowing, grazing pigs and cows as the water and mini-icebergs flooded over its banks.
It wasn’t only the men who counted on food being available. Herds and horses quickly devoured any roughage growing near the forts. If sufficient food and fodder didn’t arrive in time, starvation took down both men and beasts.

Every unit had different rations, but always just the staples. Sutlers, or local merchants, followed behind troops selling luxuries like coffee, tobacco and even chocolate. But when food ran out, it was out; men took to eating whatever they could find along their routes.

Ducks, geese, wild turkeys and deer were abundant around Fort Meigs. Walleye, muskies, catfish and sturgeon were plentiful. But there was little time, and a lot of danger of being attacked while hunting or fishing.

After months of nothing but salted meats, flour and water, it’s no wonder that soldiers on their way to Canada relished what they discovered growing all over Middle Sister Island in Lake Erie — leeks, those green onions on steroids.
The men clawed and dug them out as soon as they landed and devoured the 9 acre’s worth within minutes.
There are similar accounts of troops coming upon private farms and consuming every vegetable at hand. One beekeeper had his hives destroyed by soldiers who risked the swarms to satisfy their sweet tooth. One soldier sang the praises of the sweet corn he ate raw, because there was no time to cook it.

In the dead cold of January, one Ohio unit, coming to our area to build Fort Meigs stopped on the beach of Sandusky Bay to eat. With no utensils, salt, yeast or shortening whatsoever, they drew their portions of salted pork and flour. After building a fire from driftwood, they roasted the pork on pointed sticks.

The flour they scooped into their dirty handkerchiefs or leaves, dipped them into the lake water, and buried them in the ashes of the fire to bake. Others cooked “johnny-cake” style on slabs of bark placed near the flames.

Worse than the monotony of having to consume the same staple foods every day, was that they often ran out. Half, to quarter, to no rations at all, inevitably occurred too often.

I appreciate the abundance of my local grocery.

Frank Kuron is author of the War of 1812 book, “Thus Fell Tecumseh.” Email him at [email protected].

Veterans Matter spokemen ZZ Top to play at Stranahan

By
Vicki Kroll
-
0
Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard of ZZTop. Photo courtesy Sanctuary Artist Management

It’s a familiar scene: Customized hot rods rolling over cracked, dusty terrain. The vehicles stop, doors open, and three sultry women emerge.
The sizzling images are accompanied by searing guitar riffs — and that oh-so recognizable voice.
Splice in shots of two bearded men sporting hats and sunglasses playing guitar and bass and a mustachioed drummer. Leave the ladies with a silver double Z keychain and fade out.
ZZ Top’s video for “I Gotsta Get Paid” from the new disc “La Futura” pays tribute to the past while the trio races on. The disc opener is based on the rap song “25 Lighters” by DJ DMD with Lil’ Keke and Fat Pat.
“[‘25 Lighters’] was recorded at a Digital Services Recording in Houston, where we were working on the ‘Rhythmeen’ disc at the time, and we got to know the guys and that song remained with us since then,” lead singer and guitarist Billy F Gibbons wrote in an email interview.
“It really stayed in our head as we figured out how to deconstruct it and transform it into a guitar-based, blues-infused rocker as you hear it on ‘La Futura.’ That guitar breakdown is something of a tribute to the great Lightnin’ Hopkins, another of our ‘heroes of the Houston ghetto.’ ”
Since 1970, the Texas hombres have sold 25 million discs, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, thanks to classics “La Grange,” “Tush,” “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Legs,” “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man.”

Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
ZZ Top will play an 8 p.m. show Nov. 1 at Stranahan Theater. Tickets are $48-$68.
Gibbons answered some questions for Toledo Free Press via email from a tour stop in Kansas City, Mo.
Toledo Free Press: ZZ Top has been playing for more than four decades. What gives your music that longevity?
Gibbons: We enjoy what we do and realize that there’s nobody we’d rather do it with. This is because each of us has developed a “sixth sense” about the other two. When we deliver a new riff, we can predict with almost metaphysical certitude how we will respond with it, of course. The point is it’s still a fine, fine time when we get to light the fuse.
TFP: What was it like being part of MTV’s heyday, making those now iconic videos with your cool car?
Gibbons: It was like the greatest! We had those pretty girls to work with, and our little ’33 Ford Three-Window Coupe got to be a star. The irony was getting to be bystanders in our own videos.
TFP: Have you or Dusty shaved since you grew your beards in 1976? How do care for that famous facial hair?
Gibbons: No, we haven’t, but I do scissor it every once in a while to keep things (somewhat) in line. We suds ’em up and apply conditioner and air dry when possible, but sometimes there’s a rush circumstance that necessitates the use of power tools, like a blow dryer.
TFP: Your first band, The Moving Sidewalks, opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience — what was that like?
Gibbons: We found him to be as warm a guy as you could possibly imagine, instantly inventive on the spot, and always happy to share his ideas and act as a mentor. Jimi led us not only in guitar technique, but the importance of theatrics and asserting one’s self onstage as well. It’s one thing to play, it’s something else to entertain, and Jimi had both of those aspects down cold!
TFP: In addition to your hot guitar playing, you’re also known for hot sauces and barbecue sauces — and work in the kitchen. Cooking up any special dishes of late?
Gibbons: We’ve got our own BFG Brand line of sauces. The BBQ sauce is sweet, tangy, spicy and smoky, all in one. Great on ribs, chicken, beef, anything that needs a little zing. And, of course, the BFG Brand Sauce Piquant will perk up just about anything you might consume. It’s the real “hot stuff,” fo’ sho’!
TFP: You’ve had an amazing career so far; what are you most proud of?
Gibbons: The topper, so to speak, has got to be our induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by the one and only Keith Richards. That will always stand out as the pinnacle of what we’ve been able to accomplish over

Allegrini: I didn’t appreciate what I had until it was threatened

By
Scott Allegrini
-
0

Am I better off now than I was four years ago?

I am a typical middle-class American: married, with two dogs, a mortgage and too much debt. I am blessed to make a modest living, but still live check to check.

My house has lost value — $20,000 since 2008 and I am upside down — but I can still make payments. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for others on my street. We’ve seen many foreclosures and lost our neighbors just last year. We experienced unemployment when, in 2010, my wife lost her job.

Only with prayer, my family and my wife’s diligence in finding a job were we able to struggle through. I understand the depths of despair many face when unemployment hits and jobs are scarce. It’s times like these when people, just like me, look to solutions like garage sales or loans from caring parents.
Today, it costs more to fill a grocery cart as food prices have skyrocketed. A basket full of groceries for a family of two is upward of $150 a trip. The rising price of beef makes it quite a treat as opposed to a necessity. Even my Chips Ahoy! have become the victim of inflation — the cookies and the packaging are smaller, yet the price is the same. My Diet Coke now comes in 20 packs instead of 24 at the same cost. And don’t even get me started on ice cream. My leased Ford 500 has turned into a 1996 Ford Escort, so we don’t have a car payment. Yet it still costs $30 to fill my tank and with a 70-mile-a-day commute, it takes a toll on my wallet. We even got rid of cable because it’s an expense we cannot afford.
Why I am sharing all this personal stuff?
Because many believe that conservatives are out-of-touch, heartless rich folks. The reality is I am just the “average Scott,” living day to day and trying to taking care of my family. Financially, I am not better off than I was four years ago, but when George W. Bush was president things were not all that great either. With all the takeovers, bailouts and spending, government was out of control. The problem is not who is in office, but too much government.
In 2008, as Bush was pushing TARP, I realized that in order to change my government, I needed to become a good citizen, an involved citizen. I needed to put up or shut up. I needed to stand up for the principles that made this country great and the envy of the world for so long. It was time for action, not words.
So now my wife and I work two jobs. Why? Because it’s our responsibility to take care of ourselves, not the government’s. We eat out less, and brown-bag it for lunch. Why? Because it’s our responsibility to provide for our family, not
the government’s.

We volunteer at church, donate to charity, support the Cherry Street Mission and other causes in which we believe. We do this because we should and because it’s our responsibility. As a Christian, I know that it’s my responsibility to take care of my fellow man, not the government’s.
When we are confronted with a piece of legislation like health care, or mandates or more regulation, we read and research before we have an opinion. Then we ask questions to clarify and make sure that our opinions are based in fact and truth. Why? Because it’s our responsibility to decide what’s best for us, not the government’s.
Some may be looking for a lot of statistics proving why I am not better off than I was four years ago, but frankly, I am sick of sound bites and the blame game that pit us against one another. I want a president who understands I am an adult, not a child — who will tell me the truth no matter how bad it is. I want a president who has morals and principles.

The truth is, I am a better man today than I was four years ago. I am a better citizen than I was four years ago, and I have a much greater appreciation for this great
country than I did four years ago.
The only way to change the course we’re on is to vote for a man who shares our values and principles, a man who understands that it’s the people and not the government that make this country great. To be better off four years from now, vote for someone who will get the government out of the way. In the end though, it’s up to all of us to ensure that our own lives are better in four years than they are right now.

Miller: ‘8’

By
Michael Miller
-
0

Jennifer Rockwood is a force of nature. The director and actress, who serves as assistant dean for The University of Toledo’s College of Innovative Learning and director of the First Year Experience Program, possesses a personality designed to mobilize other people into action.  As a 20-plus-year veteran of  theater on and off campus, she has guided hundreds of people through the always compelling and often introspective journey that leads actors to the stage. 

I have known and worked with Rockwood since the early 1990s, when I was a student journalist and she was directing plays at UT. We collaborated on a taped soap opera, “XXXX,” my first and last experience in writing by committee. 

Rockwood is as much a part of my definition of “Toledo” as a Mud Hens game, the Hi-Level Bridge and a signed hot dog bun at Tony Packo’s. Her husband, John, is one of the naturally coolest men on the planet, a musician with Voodoo Libido who also takes insightful and often breathtaking photos of other musicians. 

So back in July, when Rockwood asked if I would take part in a staged reading of the marriage equality play “8,” I jumped at the chance to work with her and be part of an important social and political statement. 

I once narrated a stage play about George Washington, “Let George Do It!” back in 4th or 5th grade. Even then, my role in life was to observe the action around me and comment on it for the amusement of others. Outside of that, the stage has never called to me. As a journalist interested in the dynamics (and often heartbreaking malleability) of truth, standing up and speaking someone else’s words has never appealed to me. 

But a staged reading on a topic I have openly supported, for a director and friend I admire, seemed like an easy commitment. 

“8,” written by Oscar-winning screenplay writer Dustin Lance Black, also appealed to me because it is very much a work a journalism. Black took the court transcripts of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), a federal district court case filed to overturn California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay and lesbian couples’ right to marry in that state. By presenting actual transcripts of testimony (for a trial that had been closed to television broadcast), Black was revealing the testimony and facts behind the arguments. 

I have long maintained that gay marriage in the United States is as inevitable as interracial marriage and other once-contested civil rights. There is no cogent, empirical argument that allowing gay people to marry has any detrimental effect on heterosexual marriage, that stalwart institution that barely 50 percent of Americans can successfully navigate. You don’t have to like it, but understand that your distaste is irrelevant to the legal and social standards that should guarantee this right for all Americans. 

The cast of “8” met for one table reading and two stage run-throughs before the Oct. 7 performance. My role, marriage equality advocate Evan Wolfson, was a little but loud moment of conflict on a talking heads news show, arguing with marriage equality opponent Maggie Gallagher, played by Merlaine Angwall. The brief appearance called for us to step on each other’s lines in protest and escalate our rhetoric to a flash of righteous anger. 

“Loud and indignant? I can do that,” I told Rockwood. 

It was a tremendous learning experience, watching the actors and non-actors gel and slip into character. I was particularly struck by the efforts of Ben Pryor as proponents’ attorney Charles J. Cooper and John Meadows as proponents’ witness David Blakenhorn. Both men took difficult strings of often stuttering, insupportable dialogue and brought them to life with wit and empathy. 

“8” also features real commercials that were run to convince California voters to overturn gay marriage rights. The commercials are stunning examples of lying propaganda, focusing on how marriage equality would supposedly destroy families, children and education as we know them. 

As plaintiffs’ attorney Theodore B. Olson (played by John Adams) argued, “Your Honor, the words they put into the hands of all California voters, focused heavily on: protect our children. Protect our children from somehow learning that gay marriage is okay. For obvious reasons, the ‘gays are not okay’ message was largely abandoned during the trial in favor of procreation and deinstitutionalization themes. 

“And I submit that the overwhelming evidence in this case proves that allowing persons to marry someone of the same-sex will not, in the slightest, deter heterosexuals from marrying or from having babies.” 

Some of the most striking moments in “8” focus in the frustration gay couples feel in not being able to participate in marriage, how that exclusion keeps them from expressing the basics of their relationships and humanity. 

As spoken by plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo (Rob Salem) and Paul Katami (Larry Dean Harris), “A civil union? A domestic partnership would relegate me to a level of second class citizenship, maybe even third class citizenship. It doesn’t give due respect to the relationship that we have had for almost nine years. Only a marriage could do that … ‘Husband’ is definitive. It’s something that everyone understands. There is no subtlety to it. It is absolute, and comes with an understanding that your relationship is not temporal, it’s not new, it’s not something that could fade easily.”

Illuminating testimony about gay marriage was provided by Dr. Gary Segura (played by Carter Wilson): “For starters, and I would include in this undocumented aliens who are a distant second,  there is no group who has been targeted by ballot initiatives more than gays and lesbians. The number of ballot initiative contests since the late 1970’s is probably at or above 200. Gays and lesbians lose 70 percent of the contests and a hundred percent of the contests over same-sex marriage and adoption. 

“ At last count only six people have ever served in the House of Representatives who have been openly gay and only two of those were elected as openly gay. There has never been an openly gay Senator or cabinet member or certainly President. And only about one percent of the states’ legislators are gay.” 

In his closing argument, Olson said, “The Supreme Court has said that: Marriage is the most important relation in life. It is the foundation of society. It is essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness. It’s a right of privacy older than the Bill of Rights and older than our political parties. A right of intimacy to the degree of being sacred.” 

Denying anyone that right is un-American. And as Blankenhorn testifies, “we would  be more, emphasize more, American on the day we permitted same-sex marriage than we were on the day before.” 

More than 500 people attended Rockwood’s one-time only reading of “8.” My guess is the vast majority of them already support marriage equality. It is up to them, and forces of nature of Rockwood, to keep educating and working to share the message that “8” dramatizes so effectively. 

1...237238239...297Page 238 of 297